Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke out Tuesday in support of President Obama's "back-to-school speech" delivered to school children across the country. Gingrich's remarks came in the wake of an outlandish controversy stirred up by conservative commentators over the address.

"President Reagan did it, President H.W. Bush did it," Gingrich said on NBC's "Today" show. "If he could give a speech tomorrow night in the tone of his speech today to the students, this country would be much better off ... It's a good speech, I recommend it to everybody if you have any doubts."

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